The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and method for recording data played back from a variety of recording media onto a predetermined recording medium.
In recent years, a variety of different digital data formats for use in recording media have been developed, including formats for audio data, video data and computer data.
For example, as an optical-disc recording medium, the compact disc (xe2x80x9cCDxe2x80x9d) has become very popular for use in a variety of applications. The CD is commonly used as a playback-only medium on which audio (music) data is pre-recorded as emboss pits. The format for such an audio (music) CD is commonly referred to as CD-Digital Audio (xe2x80x9cCD-DAxe2x80x9d). Recordable-type CDs, also known as CD-Recordables (xe2x80x9cCD-Rxe2x80x9ds), and Rewritable-type CDs, known as CD-Rewritable (xe2x80x9cCD-RWxe2x80x9ds), have also been under development. CDs may also be used for storing computer data. A CD for storing such data is also called a CD-Read Only Memory (xe2x80x9cCD-ROMxe2x80x9d).
In addition, an optical disc suitable for multimedia applications known as the Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc (xe2x80x9cDVDxe2x80x9d), is also being developed. The DVD has been proposed as a disc to be used in a variety of fields for storing data such as video data, audio data, and computer data.
The DVD is an optical disc with a diameter of 12 cm. The DVD is used for recording data at a track pitch of 0.8 m, which is equal to half the conventional CD track pitch of 1.6 m. The wavelength of a semiconductor laser for reading a DVD is 650 nm as compared to 780 nm for reading a CD. In addition, an Eight-to-Fourteen Modulation (xe2x80x9cEFMxe2x80x9d) technique adopted in the CD is improved to implement a high recording density equivalent to about 4 Gbyte per surface for a DVD.
A multi-layer disc having two recording layers conforming to such DVD specifications is also under development. DVDs also include DVD-ROMs, DVD-RWs (Rewritable), and DVD-Rs (Recordable), which are analogous to their CD counterparts. DVD-RWs and DVD-Rs allow for recording and playback operations utilizing a phase change technique.
The Mini Disc (xe2x80x9cMDxe2x80x9d), which may be a magnetic disc or a magneto-optical disc having a diameter of 64 mm accommodated in a cartridge, is another medium for recording and playing back data.
The MD may be a playback-only optical disc on which audio (music) data is pre-recorded as emboss pits (similar to a music CD, i.e., a CD-DA). Such an MD is commonly referred to as a pre-mastered disc or, to be more specific, a pre-mastered MD-DA (Digital Audio). The MD may also be a recordable magneto-optical disc onto which audio (music) data may be recorded and from which the data may be played back by adopting a magnetic-field modulation technique. Such MDs are referred to as recordable MD-DAs.
The magneto-optical disc known as MD-DATA may be used for recording various kinds of data such that the disc can be used in apparatuses such as a computer.
It is noted that discs adopting the CD and DVD systems may be referred to merely as discs, while discs adopting the MD system are referred to as cartridge-discs.
Aside from the variety of disc-shaped recording media described above, small-size memory cards for mounting a non-volatile memory, such as a flash memory, have been in development as a recording device.
Various kinds of information may be written into and read out from such a memory card using a dedicated drive unit or equipment, such as an audio/video apparatus, or an information apparatus in which a drive unit is embedded. In a digital still camera including such an embedded drive unit, for example, data of a photographed still image is stored in a memory card. Devices for recording information such as computer data, video (e.g., still- or moving-picture) data, and audio (music) data on a memory card are also being developed.
One advantage of the memory card is that it does not require complex mechanical configurations, such as a rotation mechanism, a tape-traveling mechanism, a head mechanism, and a servo system; as is the case with systems for driving a disc-shaped recording medium or a tape recording medium. In addition, the memory card is superior in write and read speeds. These characteristics of a memory card provide for a low-cost, small power consumption, small-sized, and small-thickness storage medium. Furthermore, it is easy to mount a memory card onto a variety of units. These factors promote the development of a semiconductor memory card as a very useful memory storage medium.
As recordable (including rewritable) media for recording various kinds of digital data are becoming more popular (e.g., CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, etc.), wherein a copy operation does not significantly degrade the quality of data, there is a need to protect copyrighted material from being freely copied onto such recordable media.
Completely forbidding any copying is impractical because high capacity storage media are often used for recording a private copy of (or xe2x80x9cbacking upxe2x80x9d) data for safe-keeping.
In order to solve the problem described above in an MD system for recording and playing back audio data, a digital copy of digital audio data recorded on a CD-DA is permitted only for a first generation. This permission of a copy for the first generation is implemented by a policy called a Serial Copy Management System (xe2x80x9cSCMSxe2x80x9d).
However, the existence of such a variety of recording media described above, the existence of data compressing technologies of the variety of recording media, and different actual applications result in an unclear situation. In this situation, a boundary between permitting and forbidding a copy operation cannot help varying from medium to medium, from technology to technology and from application to application. For this reason, it is practically improper to uniformly regulate operations to copy data among the variety of recording media.
For example, the SCMS for permitting a digital copy only for the first generation can not be said to be suitable for all cases. This is because, in some cases, a policy to completely forbid a copy operation is considered to be desirable while, in other cases, a policy to permit copies of up to a second generation or even a further generation is deemed proper.
In addition, in recent years, popularization and improvement of data communication technologies, such as the Internet, and improvement of data compression technologies have also given rise to problems in copyright protection. High-quality data compression allows data to be presented to an unspecified number of users by way of the Internet or another communication network at a drastically reduced data amount without significant deterioration. Thus, users are able to upload and download compressed versions of copyrighted data (such as music files), and thereby distribute these compressed versions of the data.
In response, for discs such as the CD-DA, a digital watermark technology known simply as a watermark technology is being developed. This technology is a technology for including a watermark in data, wherein the watermark is erased in a process such as compression processing. Thus, by prohibiting an operation to record data when the watermark is not detected by a recording apparatus, compressing and copying of copyrighted data can be prevented. For example, it is therefore possible to prevent a copyright from being infringed by downloading and recording copyrighted data onto a disc, such as a CD-ROM, and illegally selling such a disc. However, a circuit for detecting a watermark must be provided in the recording apparatus. In addition, many discs, such as CD-DAs presently in circulation, do not necessarily have a watermark. Thus, the watermark technology is not a practical solution.
If the variety of recording media, their usage and the state of coexistence of copyright protection with the user""s right to a private copy in the data copying matter described above are taken into consideration, it is necessary to finely control permission and inhibition of a digital copy in accordance with factors such as the type of a recording medium in a recording and playback apparatus.
The present invention was made in consideration of the above problem and has as an object the provision of a recording apparatus, a recording and playback apparatus, and a recording method which are capable of properly controlling operations to copy data from a recording medium to another.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification and the drawings.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a recording apparatus includes recording means capable of recording information played back from a first recording medium into a second recording medium, judgment means for forming a judgment as to whether the first recording medium is a recording medium allowing a dubbing operation or a recording medium prohibiting a dubbing operation, and control means capable of inhibiting an operation carried out by the recording means to record information played back from the first recording medium into the second recording medium when the result of a judgment formed by the judgment means indicates that the first recording medium is a recording medium prohibiting a dubbing operation.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a recording and playback apparatus includes playback means capable of playing back information from a first recording medium, recording means capable of recording information played back from the first recording medium into a second recording medium, judgment means for forming a judgment as to whether the first recording medium is a recording medium allowing a dubbing operation or a recording medium prohibiting a dubbing operation, and control means capable of inhibiting an operation carried out by the recording means to record information played back from the first recording medium into the second recording medium when the result of a judgment formed by the judgment means indicates that the first recording medium is a recording medium prohibiting a dubbing operation.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, a recording method includes a judgment step of forming a judgment as to whether a first recording medium is a recording medium allowing a dubbing operation or a recording medium prohibiting a dubbing operation, a recording step of recording information played back from the first recording medium into a second recording medium when the result of a judgment formed at the judgment step indicates that the first recording medium is a recording medium allowing a dubbing operation, and a recording inhibit step of inhibiting an operation to record information played back from the first recording medium into the second recording medium when the result of a judgment formed at the judgment step indicates that the first recording medium is a recording medium prohibiting a dubbing operation.
In the recording apparatus, the recording and playback apparatus and the recording method, the first recording medium may have a shape like a disc whereas the second recording medium may be a non-volatile memory.
The judgment as to whether a first recording medium is a recording medium allowing a dubbing operation or a recording medium prohibiting a dubbing operation may be based on information conveyed by a light reflected from the first recording medium or predetermined identification information recorded on the first recording medium.
A recording medium allowing a dubbing operation may be a playback-only recording medium while a recording medium prohibiting a dubbing operation is a recording medium onto which data can be recorded.
A recording medium allowing a dubbing operation may also be a playback-only recording medium on which whole information is recorded as emboss pits while a recording medium prohibiting a dubbing operation is a recording medium other than the recording medium allowing a dubbing operation.
A recording medium allowing a dubbing operation may also be a playback-only recording medium on which whole information serving as management information and audio data is recorded as emboss pits while a recording medium prohibiting a dubbing operation is a recording medium other than the recording medium allowing a dubbing operation.
By controlling permission and prohibition to record (or dub or copy) data onto the second recording medium on the basis of an outcome of the judgment as to whether a first recording medium is a recording medium allowing a dubbing operation or a recording medium prohibiting a dubbing operation, as described above, it is possible to implement data copy management according to the type of the first recording medium.
The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relation of one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, and the apparatus embodying features of construction, combination(s) of elements and arrangement of parts that are adapted to effect such steps, all as exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.